You may have been caught up in the majesty of the semiquincentennial celebration and forgotten that we are in the middle of negotiations to end a war with Iran. Somehow - and I can’t believe this is still the case - Iran seems to be able to continue its incredible streak of never winning a war or losing a negotiation. Based on the current terms of the negotiations, it seems that the United States is in a worse position than it was before.

And sure, we are all aware of how the ultimate losers of this negotiation are the other Gulf states, Israel, and, of course, the United States of America. And the reasons for these being the losers are obvious. Iran has discovered its superpower of shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is now receiving much more cash than it ever did under the Obama administration. There is no incentive for any further members to join the Abraham Accords. America spent billions on this war and achieved none of its objectives.

And yet, there is a more important way that America will be losing should these negotiations go through. Back in 2021, Joe Biden withdrew American troops entirely from Afghanistan. At the time, it was obvious that this was one of the most egregious foreign policy debacles any president had overseen in the history of our country. You had footage of Afghan people clinging to the legs of aircraft as they departed from the country, only to lose control and fall to their deaths. Afghan people who risked their lives and their families’ lives to help the United States of America fend off the Taliban for 20 years lost everything on August 30, 2021. At the time, I questioned why anyone would ever help us stand up to the terrorist regime running their country ever again. The result of the pullout from Afghanistan sent a clear message to our allies that helping us would result in us turning our backs on them.

And I thought that maybe this would be limited to a Biden presidency. Surely Donald Trump would not repeat the same mistake made by his predecessor. Well, not only did he repeat this mistake, he is in the process of making a worse one. You may remember the president’s post on Truth Social from January of this year that read, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON THE WAY. MIGA!! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”

If these negotiations are to wrap up the way the initial memorandum of understanding states, President Trump will have alienated another vast swath of potential allies in a way that Joe Biden never even had the opportunity to do. When Joe Biden broke a promise made to Afghan allies, he broke a promise that was made by the previous three presidents. These Afghans were offered protection in exchange for their help. Biden breaking that promise left a sour taste in the mouths of many and certainly made future potential allies think twice about helping us in the future.

Donald Trump will be breaking his own promise. He promised that the killers and abusers would pay a big price. He promised that help was on the way. He did this all while Iran slaughtered tens of thousands of its own people. And Trump sat in his office and encouraged the Iranian people to keep going and offer themselves up for slaughter. For what? For nothing. Help never came. The murderers and abusers have not been brought to justice. The same regime that massacred its own people is still in place — and in a better position than it was before the war started.

So now we are in a situation where two presidents in a row — one Democrat and one Republican — failed in America’s promise to help keep potential allies safe. Why would anyone in their right mind help us in the future? It seems like as long as our country decides that it’s in our best interest to leave others to suffer, we’re done. So what happens when we’re in a position where we really do need help in the future? Do you think our allies in China, North Korea, or Russia will be able to find the courage to stand up to their overlords? Not if they have any sense of history. America has now proven to be the superpower that abandons its allies in their time of need.